Media Support in Secure Mobile Applications

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for providing secure resources to a native operating system resource are described herein. Using one or more aspects described herein, a mobile device may determine that a native operating system service requests to access content located within a wrapped application. The mobile device may transmit, to the native operating system service, a server path to a loopback web server within the wrapped application to elicit a request from the native operating system service to the loopback web server for the content. In response to receiving a request comprising the server path to the loopback web server to retrieve the content from the loopback web server, the mobile device may instruct the loopback web server to transmit an unencrypted version of the content to the native operating system service.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the disclosure generally relate to computing hardware andcomputer software. In particular, one or more aspects of the disclosurerelate to mobile devices that provide enhanced security for anenterprise application while providing native media support foraudiovisual content.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular for both personal useand business use. Corporations and other organizations are providingtheir employees and other associates with, and/or otherwise enablingtheir employees and other associates to use, mobile devices, such assmart phones, tablet computers, and other mobile computing devices. Asthese devices continue to grow in popularity and provide an increasingnumber of functions, many organizations may wish to ensure that thesoftware applications that are executing on such devices are safe andsecure, both for the protection of the device users and for theprotection of the organization itself and its own computer systems andnetworks.

In many instances, corporations and other organizations may deploy, use,and/or otherwise provide their employees and other associates with manydifferent software applications to be used on mobile devices owned orotherwise provided by their employees. These devices and environment arereferred to as Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD). In order to ensure thesecurity of enterprise information, one or more of the enterpriseapplications may be a “wrapped” application, designed to interceptvarious OS and/or API calls and redirecting them to enterprise approvedsoftware and/or locations, and also ensuring that enterprise data iscommunicated only in a secure format (e.g., encrypted). However, thisdisrupts the ability of wrapped applications to use OS providedresources that rely on unencrypted input, such as media players. Awrapped application cannot simply “turn off” encryption, because to doso would create a security weakness insofar as the wrapped applicationcould export unencrypted enterprise data.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of various aspects describedherein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intendedto identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of theclaims. The following summary merely presents some concepts in asimplified form as an introductory prelude to the more detaileddescription provided below.

To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and toovercome other limitations that will be apparent upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, aspects described herein aredirected providing support for multimedia files in secure mobileapplications, such as enterprise applications and wrapped applicationsthat otherwise do not have the ability to access such files.

A first aspect described herein provides a method of providing secureresources to a native operating system resource. A mobile device maydetermine that a native operating system service requests to accesscontent located within a wrapped application. The mobile device maytransmit, to the native operating system service, a server path to aloopback web server within the wrapped application to elicit a requestfrom the native operating system service to the loopback web server forthe content. In response to receiving a request comprising the serverpath to the loopback web server to retrieve the content from theloopback web server, the mobile device may send the request to theloopback web server requesting that the loopback web server transmit anunencrypted version of the content to the native operating systemservice.

In some embodiments, the server path or file path may be encrypted orrandomized using a security token. The mobile device may determinewhether the request to retrieve the content from the native operatingsystem service comprises the security token. The mobile device may thenpass the token to the loopback web server to identify the requestedcontent

In some embodiments, access to the loopback web server and the serverpath may be limited to applications and processes executing on themobile device.

In some embodiments, in response to receiving the request at the serverpath from the native operating system service, the mobile device mayidentify the file path of the content by consulting the mapping. Themobile device may retrieve the content at the identified file path. Themobile device may instruct the loopback web server to generate theunencrypted version of the content from the content at the identifiedfile path within the wrapped application for transmission to the nativeoperating system service.

Additional aspects described herein provides an apparatus having one ormore processors, one or more display screens, and memory storinginstructions that, when executed by at least one of the processors causethe computing device to perform the methods set forth above.

These and additional aspects will be appreciated with the benefit of thedisclosures discussed in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of aspects described herein and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative computer system architecture that may beused in accordance with one or more example embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative remote-access system architecture thatmay be used in accordance with one or more example embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative enterprise mobility management systemthat may be used in accordance with one or more example embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts another illustrative enterprise mobility managementsystem that may be used in accordance with one or more exampleembodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative computing environment for providingmultimedia support for wrapped applications in accordance with one ormore example embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart that illustrates a method for enabling amedia player application to play encrypted content from an enterpriseapplication in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart that illustrates a method for enabling anoperating system service to access encrypted content from an enterpriseapplication in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings identified above and which form a parthereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodimentsin which aspects described herein may be practiced. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural andfunctional modifications may be made without departing from the scopedescribed herein. Various aspects are capable of other embodiments andof being practiced or being carried out in various different ways.

As a general introduction to the subject matter described in more detailbelow, aspects described herein are directed towards providingmultimedia support to wrapped applications in a manner consistent withenterprise security requirements. Using one or more aspects describedherein, mobile enterprise applications, such as wrapped applications(discussed below), can play back audio and video files using a nativemedia player provided by the operating system of a mobile device,whereby previously a mobile device's native media player could not playaudio or video files provided by a wrapped application because the fileswere accessible only in encrypted format. Aspects describes hereinprovide secure techniques for passing unencrypted versions of mediafiles to a mobile device operating system without creating anexploitable hole in an enterprise security system.

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used hereinare for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting. Rather, the phrases and terms used herein are to be giventheir broadest interpretation and meaning. The use of “including” and“comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the itemslisted thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional itemsand equivalents thereof. The use of the terms “mounted,” “connected,”“coupled,” “positioned,” “engaged” and similar terms, is meant toinclude both direct and indirect mounting, connecting, coupling,positioning and engaging.

Computing Architecture

Computer software, hardware, and networks may be utilized in a varietyof different system environments, including standalone, networked,remote-access (aka, remote desktop), virtualized, and/or cloud-basedenvironments, among others. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a systemarchitecture and data processing device that may be used to implementone or more illustrative aspects described herein in a standalone and/ornetworked environment. Various network nodes 103, 105, 107, and 109 maybe interconnected via a wide area network (WAN) 101, such as theInternet. Other networks may also or alternatively be used, includingprivate intranets, corporate networks, LANs, metropolitan area networks(MAN) wireless networks, personal networks (PAN), and the like. Network101 is for illustration purposes and may be replaced with fewer oradditional computer networks. A local area network (LAN) may have one ormore of any known LAN topology and may use one or more of a variety ofdifferent protocols, such as Ethernet. Devices 103, 105, 107, 109 andother devices (not shown) may be connected to one or more of thenetworks via twisted pair wires, coaxial cable, fiber optics, radiowaves or other communication media.

The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings refersnot only to systems in which remote storage devices are coupled togethervia one or more communication paths, but also to stand-alone devicesthat may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that havestorage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a“physical network” but also a “content network,” which is comprised ofthe data—attributable to a single entity—which resides across allphysical networks.

The components may include data server 103, web server 105, and clientcomputers 107, 109. Data server 103 provides overall access, control andadministration of databases and control software for performing one ormore illustrative aspects describe herein. Data server 103 may beconnected to web server 105 through which users interact with and obtaindata as requested. Alternatively, data server 103 may act as a webserver itself and be directly connected to the Internet. Data server 103may be connected to web server 105 through the network 101 (e.g., theInternet), via direct or indirect connection, or via some other network.Users may interact with the data server 103 using remote computers 107,109, e.g., using a web browser to connect to the data server 103 via oneor more externally exposed web sites hosted by web server 105. Clientcomputers 107, 109 may be used in concert with data server 103 to accessdata stored therein, or may be used for other purposes. For example,from client device 107 a user may access web server 105 using anInternet browser, as is known in the art, or by executing a softwareapplication that communicates with web server 105 and/or data server 103over a computer network (such as the Internet).

Servers and applications may be combined on the same physical machines,and retain separate virtual or logical addresses, or may reside onseparate physical machines. FIG. 1 illustrates just one example of anetwork architecture that may be used, and those of skill in the artwill appreciate that the specific network architecture and dataprocessing devices used may vary, and are secondary to the functionalitythat they provide, as further described herein. For example, servicesprovided by web server 105 and data server 103 may be combined on asingle server.

Each component 103, 105, 107, 109 may be any type of known computer,server, or data processing device. Data server 103, e.g., may include aprocessor 111 controlling overall operation of the rate server 103. Dataserver 103 may further include random access memory (RAM) 113, read onlymemory (ROM) 115, network interface 117, input/output interfaces 119(e.g., keyboard, mouse, display, printer, etc.), and memory 121.Input/output (I/O) 119 may include a variety of interface units anddrives for reading, writing, displaying, and/or printing data or files.Memory 121 may further store operating system software 123 forcontrolling overall operation of the data processing device 103, controllogic 125 for instructing data server 103 to perform aspects describedherein, and other application software 127 providing secondary, support,and/or other functionality which may or might not be used in conjunctionwith aspects described herein. The control logic may also be referred toherein as the data server software 125. Functionality of the data serversoftware may refer to operations or decisions made automatically basedon rules coded into the control logic, made manually by a user providinginput into the system, and/or a combination of automatic processingbased on user input (e.g., queries, data updates, etc.).

Memory 121 may also store data used in performance of one or moreaspects described herein, including a first database 129 and a seconddatabase 131. In some embodiments, the first database may include thesecond database (e.g., as a separate table, report, etc.). That is, theinformation can be stored in a single database, or separated intodifferent logical, virtual, or physical databases, depending on systemdesign. Devices 105, 107, 109 may have similar or different architectureas described with respect to device 103. Those of skill in the art willappreciate that the functionality of data processing device 103 (ordevice 105, 107, 109) as described herein may be spread across multipledata processing devices, for example, to distribute processing loadacross multiple computers, to segregate transactions based on geographiclocation, user access level, quality of service (QoS), etc.

One or more aspects may be embodied in computer-usable or readable dataand/or computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices as describedherein. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor ina computer or other device. The modules may be written in a source codeprogramming language that is subsequently compiled for execution, or maybe written in a scripting language such as (but not limited to)HyperText Markup Language (HTML) or Extensible Markup Language (XML).The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computerreadable medium such as a nonvolatile storage device. Any suitablecomputer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or anycombination thereof. In addition, various transmission (non-storage)media representing data or events as described herein may be transferredbetween a source and a destination in the form of electromagnetic wavestraveling through signal-conducting media such as metal wires, opticalfibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space).Various aspects described herein may be embodied as a method, a dataprocessing system, or a computer program product. Therefore, variousfunctionalities may be embodied in whole or in part in software,firmware and/or hardware or hardware equivalents such as integratedcircuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and the like.Particular data structures may be used to more effectively implement oneor more aspects described herein, and such data structures arecontemplated within the scope of computer executable instructions andcomputer-usable data described herein.

With further reference to FIG. 2, one or more aspects described hereinmay be implemented in a remote-access environment. FIG. 2 depicts anexample system architecture including a generic computing device 201 inan illustrative computing environment 200 that may be used according toone or more illustrative aspects described herein. Generic computingdevice 201 may be used as a server 206 a in a single-server ormulti-server desktop virtualization system (e.g., a remote access orcloud system) configured to provide virtual machines for client accessdevices. The generic computing device 201 may have a processor 203 forcontrolling overall operation of the server and its associatedcomponents, including RAM 205, ROM 207, I/O module 209, and memory 215.

I/O module 209 may include a mouse, keypad, touch screen, scanner,optical reader, and/or stylus (or other input device(s)) through which auser of generic computing device 201 may provide input, and may alsoinclude one or more of a speaker for providing audio output and a videodisplay device for providing textual, audiovisual, and/or graphicaloutput. Software may be stored within memory 215 and/or other storage toprovide instructions to processor 203 for configuring generic computingdevice 201 into a special purpose computing device in order to performvarious functions as described herein. For example, memory 215 may storesoftware used by the computing device 201, such as an operating system217, application programs 219, and an associated database 221.

Computing device 201 may operate in a networked environment supportingconnections to one or more remote computers, such as terminals 240 (alsoreferred to as client devices). The terminals 240 may be personalcomputers, mobile devices, laptop computers, tablets, or servers thatinclude many or all of the elements described above with respect to thegeneric computing device 103 or 201. The network connections depicted inFIG. 2 include a local area network (LAN) 225 and a wide area network(WAN) 229, but may also include other networks. When used in a LANnetworking environment, computing device 201 may be connected to the LAN225 through a network interface or adapter 223. When used in a WANnetworking environment, computing device 201 may include a modem 227 orother wide area network interface for establishing communications overthe WAN 229, such as computer network 230 (e.g., the Internet). It willbe appreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative andother means of establishing a communications link between the computersmay be used. Computing device 201 and/or terminals 240 may also bemobile terminals (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), notebooks, etc.) including various other components,such as a battery, speaker, and antennas (not shown).

Aspects described herein may also be operational with numerous othergeneral purpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of other computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with aspectsdescribed herein include, but are not limited to, personal computers,server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network personal computers (PCs), minicomputers, mainframecomputers, distributed computing environments that include any of theabove systems or devices, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, one or more client devices 240 may be incommunication with one or more servers 206 a-206 n (generally referredto herein as “server(s) 206”). In one embodiment, the computingenvironment 200 may include a network appliance installed between theserver(s) 206 and client machine(s) 240. The network appliance maymanage client/server connections, and in some cases can load balanceclient connections amongst a plurality of backend servers 206.

The client machine(s) 240 may in some embodiments be referred to as asingle client machine 240 or a single group of client machines 240,while server(s) 206 may be referred to as a single server 206 or asingle group of servers 206. In one embodiment a single client machine240 communicates with more than one server 206, while in anotherembodiment a single server 206 communicates with more than one clientmachine 240. In yet another embodiment, a single client machine 240communicates with a single server 206.

A client machine 240 can, in some embodiments, be referenced by any oneof the following non-exhaustive terms: client machine(s); client(s);client computer(s); client device(s); client computing device(s); localmachine; remote machine; client node(s); endpoint(s); or endpointnode(s). The server 206, in some embodiments, may be referenced by anyone of the following non-exhaustive terms: server(s), local machine;remote machine; server farm(s), or host computing device(s).

In one embodiment, the client machine 240 may be a virtual machine. Thevirtual machine may be any virtual machine, while in some embodimentsthe virtual machine may be any virtual machine managed by a Type 1 orType 2 hypervisor, for example, a hypervisor developed by CitrixSystems, IBM, VMware, or any other hypervisor. In some aspects, thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor, while in aspects thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor executing on a server 206or a hypervisor executing on a client 240.

Some embodiments include a client device 240 that displays applicationoutput generated by an application remotely executing on a server 206 orother remotely located machine. In these embodiments, the client device240 may execute a virtual machine receiver program or application todisplay the output in an application window, a browser, or other outputwindow. In one example, the application is a desktop, while in otherexamples the application is an application that generates or presents adesktop. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications, as used herein, areprograms that execute after an instance of an operating system (and,optionally, also the desktop) has been loaded.

The server 206, in some embodiments, uses a remote presentation protocolor other program to send data to a thin-client or remote-displayapplication executing on the client to present display output generatedby an application executing on the server 206. The thin-client orremote-display protocol can be any one of the following non-exhaustivelist of protocols: the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocoldeveloped by Citrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; or the RemoteDesktop Protocol (RDP) manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.

A remote computing environment may include more than one server 206a-206 n such that the servers 206 a-206 n are logically grouped togetherinto a server farm 206, for example, in a cloud computing environment.The server farm 206 may include servers 206 that are geographicallydispersed while and logically grouped together, or servers 206 that arelocated proximate to each other while logically grouped together.Geographically dispersed servers 206 a-206 n within a server farm 206can, in some embodiments, communicate using a WAN (wide), MAN(metropolitan), or LAN (local), where different geographic regions canbe characterized as: different continents; different regions of acontinent; different countries; different states; different cities;different campuses; different rooms; or any combination of the precedinggeographical locations. In some embodiments the server farm 206 may beadministered as a single entity, while in other embodiments the serverfarm 206 can include multiple server farms.

In some embodiments, a server farm may include servers 206 that executea substantially similar type of operating system platform (e.g.,WINDOWS, UNIX, LINUX, iOS, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, etc.) In other embodiments,server farm 206 may include a first group of one or more servers thatexecute a first type of operating system platform, and a second group ofone or more servers that execute a second type of operating systemplatform.

Server 206 may be configured as any type of server, as needed, e.g., afile server, an application server, a web server, a proxy server, anappliance, a network appliance, a gateway, an application gateway, agateway server, a virtualization server, a deployment server, a SecureSockets Layer (SSL) VPN server, a firewall, a web server, an applicationserver or as a master application server, a server executing an activedirectory, or a server executing an application acceleration programthat provides firewall functionality, application functionality, or loadbalancing functionality. Other server types may also be used.

Some embodiments include a first server 106 a that receives requestsfrom a client machine 240, forwards the request to a second server 106b, and responds to the request generated by the client machine 240 witha response from the second server 106 b. First server 106 a may acquirean enumeration of applications available to the client machine 240 andwell as address information associated with an application server 206hosting an application identified within the enumeration ofapplications. First server 106 a can then present a response to theclient's request using a web interface, and communicate directly withthe client 240 to provide the client 240 with access to an identifiedapplication. One or more clients 240 and/or one or more servers 206 maytransmit data over network 230, e.g., network 101.

FIG. 2 shows a high-level architecture of an illustrative desktopvirtualization system. As shown, the desktop virtualization system maybe single-server or multi-server system, or cloud system, including atleast one virtualization server 206 configured to provide virtualdesktops and/or virtual applications to one or more client accessdevices 240. As used herein, a desktop refers to a graphical environmentor space in which one or more applications may be hosted and/orexecuted. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications may include programsthat execute after an instance of an operating system (and, optionally,also the desktop) has been loaded. Each instance of the operating systemmay be physical (e.g., one operating system per device) or virtual(e.g., many instances of an OS running on a single device). Eachapplication may be executed on a local device, or executed on a remotelylocated device (e.g., remoted).

Enterprise Mobility Management Architecture

FIG. 3 represents an enterprise mobility technical architecture 300 foruse in a BYOD environment. The architecture enables a user of a clientdevice (e.g., mobile device) 302 to both access enterprise or personalresources from a mobile device 302 and use the mobile device 302 forpersonal use. The user may access such enterprise resources 304 orenterprise services 308 using a mobile device 302 that is purchased bythe user or a mobile device 302 that is provided by the enterprise touser. The user may utilize the mobile device 302 for business use onlyor for business and personal use. The mobile device may run an iOSoperating system, and Android operating system, or the like. Theenterprise may choose to implement policies to manage the mobile device302. The policies may be implanted through a firewall or gateway in sucha way that the mobile device may be identified, secured or securityverified, and provided selective or full access to the enterpriseresources. The policies may be mobile device management policies, mobileapplication management policies, mobile data management policies, orsome combination of mobile device, application, and data managementpolicies. A mobile device 304 that is managed through the application ofmobile device management policies may be referred to as an enrolleddevice.

In some embodiments, the operating system of the mobile device may beseparated into a managed partition 310 and an unmanaged partition 312.The managed partition 310 may have policies applied to it to secure theapplications running on and data stored in the managed partition. Theapplications running on the managed partition may be secureapplications. In other embodiments, all applications may execute inaccordance with a set of one or more policy files received separate fromthe application, and which define one or more security parameters,features, resource restrictions, and/or other access controls that areenforced by the mobile device management system when that application isexecuting on the device. By operating in accordance with theirrespective policy file(s), each application may be allowed or restrictedfrom communications with one or more other applications and/orresources, thereby creating a virtual partition. Thus, as used herein, apartition may refer to a physically partitioned portion of memory(physical partition), a logically partitioned portion of memory (logicalpartition), and/or a virtual partition created as a result ofenforcement of one or more policies and/or policy files across multipleapps as described herein (virtual partition). Stated differently, byenforcing policies on managed apps, those apps may be restricted to onlybe able to communicate with other managed apps and trusted enterpriseresources, thereby creating a virtual partition that is impenetrable byunmanaged apps and devices.

The secure applications may be email applications, web browsingapplications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) access applications, WindowsApplication access applications, and the like. The secure applicationsmay be secure native applications 314, secure remote applications 322executed by a secure application launcher 318, virtualizationapplications 326 executed by a secure application launcher 318, and thelike. The secure native applications 314 may be wrapped by a secureapplication wrapper 320. The secure application wrapper 320 may includeintegrated policies that are executed on the mobile device 302 when thesecure native application is executed on the device. The secureapplication wrapper 320 may include meta-data that points the securenative application 314 running on the mobile device 302 to the resourceshosted at the enterprise that the secure native application 314 mayrequire to complete the task requested upon execution of the securenative application 314. The secure remote applications 322 executed by asecure application launcher 318 may be executed within the secureapplication launcher application 318. The virtualization applications326 executed by a secure application launcher 318 may utilize resourceson the mobile device 302, at the enterprise resources 304, and the like.The resources used on the mobile device 302 by the virtualizationapplications 326 executed by a secure application launcher 318 mayinclude user interaction resources, processing resources, and the like.The user interaction resources may be used to collect and transmitkeyboard input, mouse input, camera input, tactile input, audio input,visual input, gesture input, and the like. The processing resources maybe used to present a user interface, process data received from theenterprise resources 304, and the like. The resources used at theenterprise resources 304 by the virtualization applications 326 executedby a secure application launcher 318 may include user interfacegeneration resources, processing resources, and the like. The userinterface generation resources may be used to assemble a user interface,modify a user interface, refresh a user interface, and the like. Theprocessing resources may be used to create information, readinformation, update information, delete information, and the like. Forexample, the virtualization application may record user interactionsassociated with a graphical user interface (GUI) and communicate them toa server application where the server application will use the userinteraction data as an input to the application operating on the server.In this arrangement, an enterprise may elect to maintain the applicationon the server side as well as data, files, etc. associated with theapplication. While an enterprise may elect to “mobilize” someapplications in accordance with the principles herein by securing themfor deployment on the mobile device, this arrangement may also beelected for certain applications. For example, while some applicationsmay be secured for use on the mobile device, others might not beprepared or appropriate for deployment on the mobile device so theenterprise may elect to provide the mobile user access to the unpreparedapplications through virtualization techniques. As another example, theenterprise may have large complex applications with large and complexdata sets (e.g., material resource planning applications) where it wouldbe very difficult, or otherwise undesirable, to customize theapplication for the mobile device so the enterprise may elect to provideaccess to the application through virtualization techniques. As yetanother example, the enterprise may have an application that maintainshighly secured data (e.g., human resources data, customer data,engineering data) that may be deemed by the enterprise as too sensitivefor even the secured mobile environment so the enterprise may elect touse virtualization techniques to permit mobile access to suchapplications and data. An enterprise may elect to provide both fullysecured and fully functional applications on the mobile device as wellas a virtualization application to allow access to applications that aredeemed more properly operated on the server side. In an embodiment, thevirtualization application may store some data, files, etc. on themobile phone in one of the secure storage locations. An enterprise, forexample, may elect to allow certain information to be stored on thephone while not permitting other information.

In connection with the virtualization application, as described herein,the mobile device may have a virtualization application that is designedto present GUIs and then record user interactions with the GUI. Theapplication may communicate the user interactions to the server side tobe used by the server side application as user interactions with theapplication. In response, the application on the server side maytransmit back to the mobile device a new GUI. For example, the new GUImay be a static page, a dynamic page, an animation, or the like, therebyproviding access to remotely located resources.

The secure applications may access data stored in a secure datacontainer 328 in the managed partition 310 of the mobile device. Thedata secured in the secure data container may be accessed by the securewrapped applications 314, applications executed by a secure applicationlauncher 318, virtualization applications 326 executed by a secureapplication launcher 318, and the like. The data stored in the securedata container 328 may include files, databases, and the like. The datastored in the secure data container 328 may include data restricted to aspecific secure application 330, shared among secure applications 332,and the like. Data restricted to a secure application may include securegeneral data 334 and highly secure data 338. Secure general data may usea strong form of encryption such as Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)128-bit encryption or the like, while highly secure data 338 may use avery strong form of encryption such as AES 256-bit encryption. Datastored in the secure data container 328 may be deleted from the deviceupon receipt of a command from the device manager 324. The secureapplications may have a dual-mode option 340. The dual mode option 340may present the user with an option to operate the secured applicationin an unsecured or unmanaged mode. In an unsecured or unmanaged mode,the secure applications may access data stored in an unsecured datacontainer 342 on the unmanaged partition 312 of the mobile device 302.The data stored in an unsecured data container may be personal data 344.The data stored in an unsecured data container 342 may also be accessedby unsecured applications that are running on the unmanaged partition312 of the mobile device 302. The data stored in an unsecured datacontainer 342 may remain on the mobile device 302 when the data storedin the secure data container 328 is deleted from the mobile device 302.An enterprise may want to delete from the mobile device selected or alldata, files, and/or applications owned, licensed or controlled by theenterprise (enterprise data) while leaving or otherwise preservingpersonal data, files, and/or applications owned, licensed or controlledby the user (personal data). This operation may be referred to as aselective wipe. With the enterprise and personal data arranged inaccordance to the aspects described herein, an enterprise may perform aselective wipe.

The mobile device may connect to enterprise resources 304 and enterpriseservices 308 at an enterprise, to the public Internet 348, and the like.The mobile device may connect to enterprise resources 304 and enterpriseservices 308 through virtual private network connections. The virtualprivate network connections, also referred to as microVPN orapplication-specific VPN, may be specific to particular applications350, particular devices, particular secured areas on the mobile device,and the like. For example, each of the wrapped applications in thesecured area of the phone may access enterprise resources through anapplication specific VPN such that access to the VPN would be grantedbased on attributes associated with the application, possibly inconjunction with user or device attribute information. The virtualprivate network connections may carry Microsoft Exchange traffic,Microsoft Active Directory traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) traffic, applicationmanagement traffic, and the like. The virtual private networkconnections may support and enable single-sign-on authenticationprocesses 354. The single-sign-on processes may allow a user to providea single set of authentication credentials, which are then verified byan authentication service 358. The authentication service 358 may thengrant to the user access to multiple enterprise resources 304, withoutrequiring the user to provide authentication credentials to eachindividual enterprise resource 304.

The virtual private network connections may be established and managedby an access gateway 360. The access gateway 360 may include performanceenhancement features that manage, accelerate, and improve the deliveryof enterprise resources 304 to the mobile device 302. The access gatewaymay also re-route traffic from the mobile device 302 to the publicInternet 348, enabling the mobile device 302 to access publiclyavailable and unsecured applications that run on the public Internet348. The mobile device may connect to the access gateway via a transportnetwork 362. The transport network 362 may be a wired network, wirelessnetwork, cloud network, local area network, metropolitan area network,wide area network, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise resources 304 may include email servers, file sharingservers, SaaS applications, Web application servers, Windows applicationservers, and the like. Email servers may include Exchange servers, LotusNotes servers, and the like. File sharing servers may include ShareFileservers, and the like. SaaS applications may include Salesforce, and thelike. Windows application servers may include any application serverthat is built to provide applications that are intended to run on alocal Windows operating system, and the like. The enterprise resources304 may be premise-based resources, cloud based resources, and the like.The enterprise resources 304 may be accessed by the mobile device 302directly or through the access gateway 360. The enterprise resources 304may be accessed by the mobile device 302 via a transport network 362.The transport network 362 may be a wired network, wireless network,cloud network, local area network, metropolitan area network, wide areanetwork, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise services 308 may include authentication services 358,threat detection services 364, device manager services 324, file sharingservices 368, policy manager services 370, social integration services372, application controller services 374, and the like. Authenticationservices 358 may include user authentication services, deviceauthentication services, application authentication services, dataauthentication services and the like. Authentication services 358 mayuse certificates. The certificates may be stored on the mobile device302, by the enterprise resources 304, and the like. The certificatesstored on the mobile device 302 may be stored in an encrypted locationon the mobile device, the certificate may be temporarily stored on themobile device 302 for use at the time of authentication, and the like.Threat detection services 364 may include intrusion detection services,unauthorized access attempt detection services, and the like.Unauthorized access attempt detection services may include unauthorizedattempts to access devices, applications, data, and the like. Devicemanagement services 324 may include configuration, provisioning,security, support, monitoring, reporting, and decommissioning services.File sharing services 368 may include file management services, filestorage services, file collaboration services, and the like. Policymanager services 370 may include device policy manager services,application policy manager services, data policy manager services, andthe like. Social integration services 372 may include contactintegration services, collaboration services, integration with socialnetworks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and the like.Application controller services 374 may include management services,provisioning services, deployment services, assignment services,revocation services, wrapping services, and the like.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 300 may include anapplication store 378. The application store 378 may include unwrappedapplications 580, pre-wrapped applications 382, and the like.Applications may be populated in the application store 378 from theapplication controller 374. The application store 378 may be accessed bythe mobile device 302 through the access gateway 360, through the publicInternet 348, or the like. The application store may be provided with anintuitive and easy to use User Interface.

A software development kit 384 may provide a user the capability tosecure applications selected by the user by wrapping the application asdescribed previously in this description. An application that has beenwrapped using the software development kit 384 may then be madeavailable to the mobile device 302 by populating it in the applicationstore 378 using the application controller 374.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 300 may include amanagement and analytics capability 388. The management and analyticscapability 388 may provide information related to how resources areused, how often resources are used, and the like. Resources may includedevices, applications, data, and the like. How resources are used mayinclude which devices download which applications, which applicationsaccess which data, and the like. How often resources are used mayinclude how often an application has been downloaded, how many times aspecific set of data has been accessed by an application, and the like.

FIG. 4 is another illustrative enterprise mobility management system400. Some of the components of the mobility management system 300described above with reference to FIG. 3 have been omitted for the sakeof simplicity. The architecture of the system 400 depicted in FIG. 4 issimilar in many respects to the architecture of the system 300 describedabove with reference to FIG. 3 and may include additional features notmentioned above.

In this case, the left hand side represents an enrolled client device(e.g., mobile device) 402 with a client agent 404, which interacts withgateway server 406 (which includes Access Gateway and applicationcontroller functionality) to access various enterprise resources 408 andservices 609 such as Exchange, Sharepoint, public-key infrastructure(PKI) Resources, Kerberos Resources, Certificate Issuance service, asshown on the right hand side above. Although not specifically shown, themobile device 402 may also interact with an enterprise application store(StoreFront) for the selection and downloading of applications.

The client agent 404 acts as the UI (user interface) intermediary forWindows apps/desktops hosted in an Enterprise data center, which areaccessed using the High-Definition User Experience (HDX)/ICA displayremoting protocol. The client agent 404 also supports the installationand management of native applications on the mobile device 402, such asnative iOS or Android applications. For example, the managedapplications 410 (mail, browser, wrapped application) shown in thefigure above are all native applications that execute locally on thedevice. Client agent 404 and application management framework of thisarchitecture act to provide policy driven management capabilities andfeatures such as connectivity and SSO (single sign on) to enterpriseresources/services 408. The client agent 404 handles primary userauthentication to the enterprise, normally to Access Gateway (AG) withSSO to other gateway server components. The client agent 404 obtainspolicies from gateway server 406 to control the behavior of the managedapplications 410 on the mobile device 402.

The Secure interprocess communication (IPC) links 412 between the nativeapplications 410 and client agent 404 represent a management channel,which allows client agent to supply policies to be enforced by theapplication management framework 414 “wrapping” each application. TheIPC channel 412 also allows client agent 404 to supply credential andauthentication information that enables connectivity and SSO toenterprise resources 408. Finally the IPC channel 412 allows theapplication management framework 414 to invoke user interface functionsimplemented by client agent 404, such as online and offlineauthentication.

Communications between the client agent 404 and gateway server 406 areessentially an extension of the management channel from the applicationmanagement framework 414 wrapping each native managed application 410.The application management framework 414 requests policy informationfrom client agent 404, which in turn requests it from gateway server406. The application management framework 414 requests authentication,and client agent 404 logs into the gateway services part of gatewayserver 406 (also known as NetScaler Access Gateway). Client agent 404may also call supporting services on gateway server 406, which mayproduce input material to derive encryption keys for the local datavaults 416, or provide client certificates which may enable directauthentication to PKI protected resources, as more fully explainedbelow.

In more detail, the application management framework 414 “wraps” eachmanaged application 410. This may be incorporated via an explicit buildstep, or via a post-build processing step. The application managementframework 414 may “pair” with client agent 404 on first launch of anapplication 410 to initialize the Secure IPC channel and obtain thepolicy for that application. The application management framework 414may enforce relevant portions of the policy that apply locally, such asthe client agent login dependencies and some of the containment policiesthat restrict how local OS services may be used, or how they mayinteract with the application 410.

The application management framework 414 may use services provided byclient agent 404 over the Secure IPC channel 412 to facilitateauthentication and internal network access. Key management for theprivate and shared data vaults 416 (containers) may be also managed byappropriate interactions between the managed applications 410 and clientagent 404. Vaults 416 may be available only after online authentication,or may be made available after offline authentication if allowed bypolicy. First use of vaults 416 may require online authentication, andoffline access may be limited to at most the policy refresh periodbefore online authentication is again required.

Network access to internal resources may occur directly from individualmanaged applications 410 through Access Gateway 406. The applicationmanagement framework 414 is responsible for orchestrating the networkaccess on behalf of each application 410. Client agent 404 mayfacilitate these network connections by providing suitable time limitedsecondary credentials obtained following online authentication. Multiplemodes of network connection may be used, such as reverse web proxyconnections and end-to-end VPN-style tunnels 418.

The Mail and Browser managed applications 410 have special status andmay make use of facilities that might not be generally available toarbitrary wrapped applications. For example, the Mail application mayuse a special background network access mechanism that allows it toaccess Exchange over an extended period of time without requiring a fullAG logon. The Browser application may use multiple private data vaultsto segregate different kinds of data.

This architecture supports the incorporation of various other securityfeatures. For example, gateway server 406 (including its gatewayservices) in some cases will not need to validate active directory (AD)passwords. It can be left to the discretion of an enterprise whether anAD password is used as an authentication factor for some users in somesituations. Different authentication methods may be used if a user isonline or offline (i.e., connected or not connected to a network).

Step up authentication is a feature wherein gateway server 406 mayidentify managed native applications 410 that are allowed to have accessto highly classified data requiring strong authentication, and ensurethat access to these applications is only permitted after performingappropriate authentication, even if this means a re-authentication isrequired by the user after a prior weaker level of login.

Another security feature of this solution is the encryption of the datavaults 416 (containers) on the mobile device 402. The vaults 416 may beencrypted so that all on-device data including files, databases, andconfigurations are protected. For on-line vaults, the keys may be storedon the server (gateway server 406), and for off-line vaults, a localcopy of the keys may be protected by a user password or biometricvalidation. When data is stored locally on the device 402 in the securecontainer 416, it is preferred that a minimum of AES 256 encryptionalgorithm be utilized.

Other secure container features may also be implemented. For example, alogging feature may be included, wherein all security events happeninginside an application 410 are logged and reported to the backend. Datawiping may be supported, such as if the application 410 detectstampering, associated encryption keys may be written over with randomdata, leaving no hint on the file system that user data was destroyed.Screenshot protection is another feature, where an application mayprevent any data from being stored in screenshots. For example, the keywindow's hidden property may be set to YES. This may cause whatevercontent is currently displayed on the screen to be hidden, resulting ina blank screenshot where any content would normally reside.

Local data transfer may be prevented, such as by preventing any datafrom being locally transferred outside the application container, e.g.,by copying it or sending it to an external application. A keyboard cachefeature may operate to disable the autocorrect functionality forsensitive text fields. SSL certificate validation may be operable so theapplication specifically validates the server SSL certificate instead ofit being stored in the keychain. An encryption key generation featuremay be used such that the key used to encrypt data on the device isgenerated using a passphrase or biometric data supplied by the user (ifoffline access is required). It may be XORed with another key randomlygenerated and stored on the server side if offline access is notrequired. Key Derivation functions may operate such that keys generatedfrom the user password use KDFs (key derivation functions, notablyPassword-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2)) rather than creatinga cryptographic hash of it. The latter makes a key susceptible to bruteforce or dictionary attacks.

Further, one or more initialization vectors may be used in encryptionmethods. An initialization vector will cause multiple copies of the sameencrypted data to yield different cipher text output, preventing bothreplay and cryptanalytic attacks. This will also prevent an attackerfrom decrypting any data even with a stolen encryption key if thespecific initialization vector used to encrypt the data is not known.Further, authentication then decryption may be used, wherein applicationdata is decrypted only after the user has authenticated within theapplication. Another feature may relate to sensitive data in memory,which may be kept in memory (and not in disk) only when it's needed. Forexample, login credentials may be wiped from memory after login, andencryption keys and other data inside objective-C instance variables arenot stored, as they may be easily referenced. Instead, memory may bemanually allocated for these.

An inactivity timeout may be implemented, wherein after a policy-definedperiod of inactivity, a user session is terminated.

Data leakage from the application management framework 414 may beprevented in other ways. For example, when an application 410 is put inthe background, the memory may be cleared after a predetermined(configurable) time period. When backgrounded, a snapshot may be takenof the last displayed screen of the application to fasten theforegrounding process. The screenshot may contain confidential data andhence should be cleared.

Another security feature relates to the use of an OTP (one timepassword) 420 without the use of an AD (active directory) 422 passwordfor access to one or more applications. In some cases, some users do notknow (or are not permitted to know) their AD password, so these usersmay authenticate using an OTP 420 such as by using a hardware OTP systemlike SecurID (OTPs may be provided by different vendors also, such asEntrust or Gemalto). In some cases, after a user authenticates with auser ID, a text is sent to the user with an OTP 420. In some cases, thismay be implemented only for online use, with a prompt being a singlefield.

An offline password may be implemented for offline authentication forthose applications 410 for which offline use is permitted via enterprisepolicy. For example, an enterprise may want StoreFront to be accessed inthis manner. In this case, the client agent 404 may require the user toset a custom offline password and the AD password is not used. Gatewayserver 406 may provide policies to control and enforce passwordstandards with respect to the minimum length, character classcomposition, and age of passwords, such as described by the standardWindows Server password complexity requirements, although theserequirements may be modified.

Another feature relates to the enablement of a client side certificatefor certain applications 410 as secondary credentials (for the purposeof accessing PKI protected web resources via the application managementframework micro VPN feature). For example, an application may utilizesuch a certificate. In this case, certificate-based authentication usingActiveSync protocol may be supported, wherein a certificate from theclient agent 404 may be retrieved by gateway server 406 and used in akeychain. Each managed application may have one associated clientcertificate, identified by a label that is defined in gateway server406.

Gateway server 406 may interact with an Enterprise special purpose webservice to support the issuance of client certificates to allow relevantmanaged applications to authenticate to internal PKI protectedresources.

The client agent 404 and the application management framework 414 may beenhanced to support obtaining and using client certificates forauthentication to internal PKI protected network resources. More thanone certificate may be supported, such as to match various levels ofsecurity and/or separation requirements. The certificates may be used bythe Mail and Browser managed applications, and ultimately by arbitrarywrapped applications (provided those applications use web service stylecommunication patterns where it is reasonable for the applicationmanagement framework to mediate HTTPS requests).

Application management client certificate support on iOS may rely onimporting a public-key cryptography standards (PKCS) 12 BLOB (BinaryLarge Object) into the iOS keychain in each managed application for eachperiod of use. Application management framework client certificatesupport may use a HTTPS implementation with private in-memory keystorage. The client certificate will never be present in the iOSkeychain and will not be persisted except potentially in “online-only”data value that is strongly protected.

Mutual SSL may also be implemented to provide additional security byrequiring that a mobile device 402 is authenticated to the enterprise,and vice versa. Virtual smart cards for authentication to gateway server406 may also be implemented.

Both limited and full Kerberos support may be additional features. Thefull support feature relates to an ability to do full Kerberos login toActive Directory (AD) 422, using an AD password or trusted clientcertificate, and obtain Kerberos service tickets to respond to HTTPNegotiate authentication challenges. The limited support feature relatesto constrained delegation in Citrix Access Gateway Enterprise Edition(AGEE), where AGEE supports invoking Kerberos protocol transition so itcan obtain and use Kerberos service tickets (subject to constraineddelegation) in response to HTTP Negotiate authentication challenges.This mechanism works in reverse web proxy (aka corporate virtual privatenetwork (CVPN)) mode, and when HTTP (but not HTTPS) connections areproxied in VPN and MicroVPN mode.

Another feature relates to application container locking and wiping,which may automatically occur upon jail-break or rooting detections, andoccur as a pushed command from administration console, and may include aremote wipe functionality even when an application 410 is not running.

A multi-site architecture or configuration of enterprise applicationstore and an application controller may be supported that allows usersto be service from one of several different locations in case offailure.

In some cases, managed applications 410 may be allowed to access acertificate and private key via an API (example OpenSSL). Trustedmanaged applications 410 of an enterprise may be allowed to performspecific Public Key operations with an application's client certificateand private key. Various use cases may be identified and treatedaccordingly, such as when an application behaves like a browser and nocertificate access is required, when an application reads a certificatefor “who am I,” when an application uses the certificate to build asecure session token, and when an application uses private keys fordigital signing of important data (e.g. transaction log) or fortemporary data encryption.

Multimedia Support

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative computing environment for providingmultimedia support for wrapped applications in accordance with one ormore example embodiments. An enterprise application 502, as shown inFIG. 5, may be a “wrapped” application executing on mobile device 500.The enterprise application 502 may be designed to intercept various OSand/or API calls and redirect them to enterprise approved softwareand/or locations, and ensure that enterprise data is communicated onlyin a secure format (e.g., encrypted). The enterprise application 502 maybe configured to play media files using native OS services of the mobiledevice 500. For example, the enterprise application 508 may instruct amedia player application 520, executing on the mobile device 500, toplay content file 508. Content file 508 may be encrypted according tothe encryption policies of enterprise application 502. An operatingsystem service or unencrypted application, such as media playerapplication 520, may not be capable of playing encrypted content files.Accordingly, the enterprise application 502 may process the mediacontent file 508 to provide an unencrypted version of the encryptedcontent file 508 in a secure manner to media player application 520 forplayback. Similarly, enterprise application 502 may process all datacommunicated to OS provided resources and unencrypted applicationexecuting on the mobile device 500 such that an unencrypted version ofthe secure content is transmitted to such OS provided resources in asecure manner without turning off encryption in the enterpriseapplication 502. The enterprise application 502 cannot simply “turn off”encryption, because to do so would create a security weakness insofar asthe wrapped application could export unencrypted enterprise data.

In some embodiments, unencrypted content files may be read and/or playedback by OS resources such as media player application 520 by using afile descriptor. When a mobile application instructs an OS resource toaccess a content file for playback, the mobile application may set thecontent file's file path, hereinafter also referred to as the uniformresource identifier (URI), as the data source for the OS resource fromwhich the OS resource is to retrieve the file content. The mobileapplication may transmit the URI for the content file to the OSresource. Upon receiving the target content file's file descriptor, theOS service may access the URI of the file content by reading the filedescriptor and accordingly access the file content for playback and/orother activities.

In some embodiments, enterprise application 502 may provide anunencrypted version of encrypted content files such as content file 508to OS resources such as media player application 520. Instead ofproviding the media player application 520 with the file path (e.g.,URI) of the content file 508, the enterprise application 502 maytransmit a server path to loopback server 504. The enterpriseapplication 502 may instruct the processor of the mobile device 500 togenerate a loopback web server, such as loopback server 504, within theenterprise application 502. The loopback server 504 may only beaccessible to applications and processes executing on the mobile device500 and inaccessible to processes and networks outside the mobile device500. For example, the loopback server 504 may have a network interfacethat is only accessible by OS resources and applications executing onmobile device 500 and not to outside users and/or processes. Theloopback server 504 may be able to access various enterprise resourcessuch as secured content file 508. The loopback server 504 may assign aloopback server path to each such enterprise resource such as securecontent file path 508 such that when a native application and/or OSresource request the loopback server 504 to access the enterpriseresource using a loopback server path corresponding to the enterpriseresource, the loopback server 504 may access the enterprise resource atits actual content file path, decrypt the enterprise content so that therequesting OS resource and/or native application may be able to accessthe enterprise resource, and transmit the decrypted enterprise resourceto the requesting OS resource and/or native application.

In some embodiments, the loopback server path may have access to amapping table 510 that stores associations between loopback server pathsand content file paths. The enterprise application 502 may storeassociations between actual content file paths of different enterpriseresources such as content file 508 and the corresponding loopback serverfile path used by the loopback server 504 to refer to thosecorresponding enterprise resources. For example, when the enterpriseapplication 502 gains access to content file 508, the enterpriseapplication 502 may generate a loopback server path 511 a for thecontent file 508 and may store an association between the actual contentfile path 512 a of the content file 508 and the loopback server path 511a in the mapping table 510. As shown in FIG. 5, the mapping table 510may similarly include associations between several different contentfile paths 512 a-n and their corresponding loopback server paths 511a-n. The loopback server 504 may consult such a mapping table 510 toretrieve the content file path of a content file that it is beingrequested when the loopback server 504 receives a loopback server pathfrom a native application and/or OS resource attempting to access thecontent file.

In some embodiments, the enterprise application 502 may transmit aloopback server path to an operating system service (e.g., the mediaplayer application) when it desires to have that operating systemservice access the content file. For example, when the enterpriseapplication 502 determines that media player application 520 (e.g., anative application on the mobile device 500) is to play the content file508, the enterprise application 502 may identify the loopback serverpath corresponding to the content file 508 (e.g., loopback server path511 a) and transmit the loopback server path 511 a to the media playerapplication 520.

In some embodiments, the loopback server path that is transmitted to theoperating system service may cause the operating system service totransmit a request to the loopback server 504 for the content file. Forexample, the enterprise application 502 may transmit the loopback serverpath 511 a corresponding to content file 508 to trigger a request fromthe media player application 520 and to the loopback server 504 for thecontent file 508. Because the loopback server 504 is capable ofproviding the media player application 520 with an unencrypted versionof the content file 508, the enterprise application 502 may transmit theloopback server path 511 a to the media player application 520 with theexpectation of receiving a request at the loopback server 504 from themedia player application 520.

Once the loopback server 504 receives a content request for the contentfile 508, the loopback server 504 may consult the mapping table 510 todetermine the location of the content file 508. The loopback server 504may identify the actual file path at which the requested content file508 is stored from the mapping table 510 by using the received loopbackserver path from the media player application 520. The actual file pathof enterprise content files may not be revealed or made known to anyprocesses and/or applications outside the enterprise application 502. Analias such as the loopback server path may be used to mask the actualfile path at which content files are stored to maintain the security ofthe enterprise resources.

In some embodiments, the loopback server 504 may generate and transmitan unencrypted version of the content file 508 to the operating systemservice that is requesting it for the content file. By reading thecontent file 508 within the context of the encryption layer 506, theloopback server 504 may generate an unencrypted version of content file508. In some implementations, the content file may be decrypted in apiecemeal manner such that portions of the content file that have beendecrypted may be transmitted to the media player application 520 whileportions of the content file 508 may be decrypted by the loopback server504. In another implementation, the loopback server 504 may transmit anunencrypted version of the content file 508 once it has completeddecrypting the entire content file 508.

In some embodiments, the loopback server path that is communicated tothe operating system service on mobile device 500 may be secured orencrypted. For example, the enterprise application 502 may encrypt orreplace the loopback server path or the file location with a securitytoken that each operating system service and native applicationexecuting on the mobile device 500 may in turn send back to the loopbackserver to retrieve the associated content. Because the loopback serverpath is generated and encrypted within the enterprise application 502,no outside processes, users, and/or software may have access to theloopback server path and accordingly, no such process, user, and/orsoftware external to the mobile device 500 may be able to contact theloopback server 504 to request unencrypted versions of secure contentfiles such as content file 508. Alternatively, the loopback server pathmay be generated by the enterprise application 502 in a randomizedmanner during runtime of the enterprise application 502. In the eventthat malicious applications have been installed and/or begin executingon the mobile device 500, such malicious processes and/or applicationsare not able to gain knowledge of the loopback server paths. Becausemalicious processes and/or applications are not native applicationsand/or operating system resources, such malicious processes and/orapplications are not able to decrypt the encrypted loopback server pathsthat are transmitted by the enterprise application 502 to their targetOS resources. In addition, because the loopback server 504 may only beaccessed by OS resources and/or native applications that provide aloopback server path or token previously communicated to them, maliciousprocesses and/or applications are not able to access the loopback server504.

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart that illustrates a method for enabling amedia player application to play encrypted content from an enterpriseapplication in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein. In one or more embodiments, the method of FIG. 6and/or one or more steps thereof may be performed by a computing device(e.g., generic computing device 201). In other embodiments, the methodillustrated in FIG. 6 and/or one or more steps thereof may be embodiedin computer-executable instructions that are stored in acomputer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readablememory.

As shown in FIG. 6, the method may begin at step 602 in which a mobiledevice may receive a request from an enterprise application (e.g.,wrapped application) to playback content using a media playerapplication. For example, an enterprise application such an enterprisemobile email application may desire to playback an enterprise mediacontent attached in an email received by the mobile email application.The enterprise mobile email application executing on the mobile devicemay instruct the native media player application of the mobile device toplay back the enterprise media content attachment and may create arequest for the processor of the mobile device to playback theenterprise media content using the native media player application.

At step 604, the mobile device may determine whether the content isencrypted. The mobile device may identify the content from the requestand determine whether the native media player application can playbackthe content. Typically, native media player applications are incapableof playing back media content that has been encrypted according to thesecurity protocols of enterprise mobile applications. The mobile devicemay examine the media content to determine whether the enterprise mediacontent includes indicators indicating that it has been encrypted usingthe security protocols of the enterprise application. In response todetermining that the content is not encrypted, the method 600 mayproceed to step 616 to transmit the unencrypted content to the mediaplayer application.

At step 606, in response to determining that the content is encrypted,the mobile device may generate a loopback server within the enterpriseapplication. The mobile device may instruct the enterprise applicationto generate a loopback web server within the enterprise application thatis only accessible to mobile applications and OS resources executing onthe mobile device. The loopback web server may be generated to be ableto decrypt encrypted enterprise content to provide unencrypted versionsof such enterprise content to native mobile applications and OSresources executing on the mobile device.

At step 608, the mobile device may generate a loopback server path fromthe file path of the content. The mobile device may generate loopbackserver paths for various different enterprise content that map to theactual file paths (e.g., local and/or network addresses) of theenterprise content. The mobile device may generate different loopbackserver paths for different content such that the enterprise applicationmay be able to identify which content an OS resource is referring towhen it submits a request to the loopback server with a server path.

At step 610, the mobile device may transmit the loopback server path tothe media player application. Upon identifying the loopback server pathcorresponding to the media content that is to be played back by thenative media player application, the enterprise application may transmitthe identified loopback server path for that media content to the mediaplayer application. In transmitting the loopback server path to themedia player application, the enterprise application expects to receivea request from the media player application to stream the media contentfrom the loopback web server.

At step 612, the mobile device may receive a request for content at theloopback server from the media player application. Once the media playerapplication receives the loopback server path from the enterpriseapplication, the media player application may automatically respond tothe server path by transmitting a request to the loopback server tostream the media content corresponding to the server path. The messagereceived from the enterprise application at the media player applicationincluding the loopback server path may be configured to cause the mediaplayer application to generate such a request to the loopback webserver. Accordingly, the loopback web server may receive a request tostream the enterprise content from the loopback server path.

At step 614, the mobile device may generate the unencrypted content fromthe encrypted content at the loopback server. Upon receiving a requestto stream enterprise content with a loopback server path identifying theenterprise content, the loopback server may identify the actual filepath of the enterprise content by consulting a mapping table storingassociations between the loopback server paths of various enterprisecontent and their corresponding actual file paths. Once the loopbackserver identifies the actual file path of the requested enterprisecontent requested by the media player application, the loopback servermay generate an unencrypted version of the encrypted enterprise contentsuitable for playback in the media player application. Because theloopback web server is a web server that exists within the wrappedenterprise application, the loopback web server is able to access theencryption layer of the enterprise application that can be used todecrypt the encrypted enterprise content. By reading the enterprisecontent within the context of such an enterprise application encryptionlayer, the loopback web server is able to generate an unencryptedversion of the enterprise content.

At step 616, the mobile device may transmit the unencrypted content tothe media player application. Once the loopback web server has generatedan unencrypted version of the enterprise content that is suitable forplayback on the media player application, the enterprise application maytransmit the unencrypted content to the media player application.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart that illustrates a method for enabling anoperating system service to access encrypted content from an enterpriseapplication in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein. In one or more embodiments, the method of FIG. 7and/or one or more steps thereof may be performed by a computing device(e.g., generic computing device 201). In other embodiments, the methodillustrated in FIG. 7 and/or one or more steps thereof may be embodiedin computer-executable instructions that are stored in acomputer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readablememory.

As shown in FIG. 7, the method may begin at step 702 in which a mobiledevice may receive a request from a secure application to use anoperating system service. For example, an enterprise application such anenterprise mobile email application may desire to access an enterprisecontent attachment that can be only opened using a native operatingsystem service. The enterprise mobile email application executing on themobile device may instruct the native OS service of the mobile device toaccess the enterprise media content attachment and may create a requestfor the processor of the mobile device to use the OS service to accessthe enterprise content.

At step 704, the mobile device may determine whether encrypted data isto be transmitted to the operating system service. The mobile device maydetermine whether the enterprise content is encrypted. The mobile devicemay identify the content from the request and determine whether thenative OS service can access the enterprise content without furtherprocessing the content. Typically, native OS services are incapable ofreading enterprise content that has been encrypted according to thesecurity protocols of enterprise mobile applications. The mobile devicemay examine the enterprise content to determine whether the enterprisemedia content includes indicators indicating that it has been encryptedusing the security protocols of the enterprise application. In responseto determining that encrypted data is not to be transmitted to theoperating system service, the method 700 may proceed to step 722 totransmit unencrypted content to the operating system service.

At step 706, in response to determining that the encrypted data is to betransmitted to the operating system service, the mobile device maydetermine whether the secure enterprise application is attempting toprovide a file path of the encrypted content to the operating systemservice. The mobile device may determine how the enterprise applicationis configured to instruct the native OS service to access the enterprisecontent. The mobile device determines if the enterprise application hasan OS service access the enterprise content by providing the file pathand/or the content itself to the OS service. The mobile device mayattempt to prevent the enterprise application from providing the OSservice with the encrypted content and/or the file path to the encryptedcontent to prevent the OS service from malfunctioning and to maintainthe security of the enterprise content. In response to determining thatthe secure application is not attempting to provide a file path of theencrypted content to the operating system service, the method 700 mayreturn to step 704 to determine whether other encrypted data is to betransmitted to the operating system service.

At step 708, in response to determining that the secure application isattempting to provide a file path of the encrypted content to theoperating system service, the mobile device may generate a loopbackserver within the secure enterprise application. The mobile device mayinstruct the enterprise application to generate a loopback web serverwithin the enterprise application that is only accessible to mobileapplications and OS resources executing on the mobile device. Theloopback web server may be generated to be able to decrypt encryptedenterprise content to provide unencrypted versions of such enterprisecontent to native mobile applications and OS resources executing on themobile device.

At step 710, the mobile device may generate a loopback server path fromthe file path of the content. The mobile device may generate loopbackserver paths for various different enterprise content that map to theactual file paths (e.g., local and/or network addresses) of theenterprise content. The mobile device may generate different loopbackserver paths for different content such that the enterprise applicationmay be able to identify which content an OS resource is referring towhen it submits a request to the loopback server with a server path.

At step 712, the mobile device may store the association between theloopback server path and the file path of the content in a mapping. Themobile device may access a map such as mapping table 510 of FIG. 5 thatstores associations between loopback server paths of enterprise contentand the actual file paths of enterprise content. As new enterprisecontent becomes available, the mobile device may generate new loopbackserver paths for such new enterprise content and update such a databasewith such new associations.

At step 714, the mobile device may transmit the loopback server path tothe operating system service. Upon identifying the loopback server pathcorresponding to the enterprise content that is to be played back by thenative OS service, the enterprise application may transmit theidentified loopback server path for that enterprise content to thenative OS service. In transmitting the loopback server path to thenative OS service, the enterprise application expects to receive arequest from the native OS service to stream the enterprise content fromthe loopback web server.

At step 716, the mobile device may receive the request for content fromthe operating system service identifying the loopback server path. Oncethe native OS service receives the loopback server path from theenterprise application, the native OS service may automatically respondto the server path by transmitting a request to the loopback server totransmit the enterprise content corresponding to the server path. Themessage received from the enterprise application at the native OSservice including the loopback server path may be configured to causethe native OS service to generate such a request to the loopback webserver. Accordingly, the loopback web server may receive a request totransmit the enterprise content from the loopback server path.

At step 718, the mobile device may retrieve the encrypted file at theloopback server from the file path associated with the server path inthe mapping. Upon receiving a request to transmit enterprise contentwith a loopback server path identifying the enterprise content, theloopback server may identify the actual file path of the enterprisecontent by consulting a mapping table storing associations between theloopback server paths of various enterprise content and theircorresponding actual file paths.

At step 720, the mobile device may instruct the loopback server togenerate unencrypted content. Once the loopback server identifies theactual file path of the requested enterprise content requested by thenative OS service, the loopback server may generate an unencryptedversion of the encrypted enterprise content suitable for playback in thenative OS service. Because the loopback web server is a web server thatexists within the wrapped enterprise application, the loopback webserver is able to access the encryption layer of the enterpriseapplication that can be used to decrypt the encrypted enterprisecontent. By reading the enterprise content within the context of such anenterprise application encryption layer, the loopback web server is ableto generate an unencrypted version of the enterprise content.

At step 722, the mobile device may transmit the unencrypted content tothe operating system service. Once the loopback web server has generatedan unencrypted version of the enterprise content that is suitable forthe native OS service to read, the enterprise application may transmitthe unencrypted content to the native OS service.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are described asexample implementations of the following claims.

1. A method, comprising: determining, by a processor of a mobile device,that a wrapped application requests to play encrypted media contentusing a native media player application, wherein the wrapped applicationis subject to control by an enterprise management system that restrictsdata transmission to and from the wrapped application based on a set ofone or more policy files stored on the mobile device independent of thewrapped application; transmitting, by the processor and to the nativemedia player application, a server path to a loopback web server withinthe wrapped application to elicit a request from the native media playerapplication to the loopback web server for the media content; receiving,by the processor and from the native media player application, a requestto retrieve the media content from the loopback web server; andresponsive to determining that the request to retrieve the media contentcomprises the server path, sending the request to the loopback webserver requesting the loopback web server to transmit an unencryptedversion of the media content to the native media player.
 2. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: generating, by the processor, theloopback web server within the wrapped application; and generating, bythe processor, the server path associated with the media content,wherein the loopback web server is instructed to retrieve the mediacontent from a file path at which the media content is located withinthe wrapped application based on the server path.
 3. The method of claim1, further comprising: identifying, by the processor, a file path atwhich the media content is located within the wrapped application; andresponsive to determining that the wrapped application requests to playthe media content using the native media player application, generatingthe server path for transmission to the native media player application,wherein the server path is uniquely associated with the file path atwhich the media content is located within the wrapped application. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the server path is identified using asecurity token, the method further comprising: determining, by theprocessor, whether the request from the media player application toretrieve the media content comprises the security token; andinstructing, based on the security token, the loopback web server todecrypt the media content associated with the server path fortransmission to the media player application.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the security token comprises one of a randomized identifier andencrypted data.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising restrictingaccess to the loopback web server and the server path to applicationsand processes executing on the mobile device.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: responsive to receiving the request from the nativemedia player application, identifying by the loopback web server a filepath of the media content, wherein said identifying comprises querying amapping of associations between server paths and file paths of aplurality of different media content; retrieving the media contentlocated at the associated file path; and instructing the loopback webserver to generate the unencrypted version of the media content from themedia content located at the identified file path for transmission tothe native media player application.
 8. One or more non-transitorycomputer readable storage media comprising computer readableinstructions that, when executed, cause a device to perform:determining, by a processor of the device, that a wrapped applicationrequests to play encrypted media content using a native media playerapplication, wherein the wrapped application is subject to control by anenterprise management system that restricts data transmission to andfrom the wrapped application based on a set of one or more policy filesstored on the mobile device independent of the wrapped application;transmitting, by the processor and to the native media playerapplication, a server path to a loopback web server within the wrappedapplication to elicit a request from the native media player applicationto the loopback web server for the media content; receiving, by theprocessor and from the native media player application, a request toretrieve the media content from the loopback web server; and responsiveto determining that the request to retrieve the media content comprisesthe server path, sending the request to the loopback web serverrequesting the loopback web server to transmit an unencrypted version ofthe media content to the native media player.
 9. The computer readablestorage media of claim 8, wherein the computer readable instructionsfurther cause the device to perform: generating, by the processor, theloopback web server within the wrapped application; and generating, bythe processor, the server path associated with the media content,wherein the loopback web server is instructed to retrieve the mediacontent from a file path at which the media content is located withinthe wrapped application based on the server path.
 10. The computerreadable storage media of claim 8, wherein the computer readableinstructions further cause the device to perform: identifying, by theprocessor, a file path at which the media content is located within thewrapped application; and responsive to determining that the wrappedapplication requests to play the media content using the native mediaplayer application, generating the server path for transmission to thenative media player application, wherein the server path is uniquelyassociated with the file path at which the media content is locatedwithin the wrapped application.
 11. The computer readable storage mediaof claim 8, wherein the server path is identified using a securitytoken, and wherein the computer readable instructions further cause thedevice to perform: determining, by the processor, whether the requestfrom the media player application to retrieve the media contentcomprises the security token; and instructing, based on the securitytoken, the loopback web server to decrypt the media content associatedwith the server path for transmission to the media player application.12. The computer readable storage media of claim 11, wherein thesecurity token comprises one of a randomized identifier and encrypteddata.
 13. The computer readable storage media of claim 8, wherein thecomputer readable instructions further cause the device to performrestricting access to the loopback web server and the server path toapplications and processes executing on the mobile device.
 14. Thecomputer readable storage media of claim 8, wherein the computerreadable instructions further cause the device to perform: responsive toreceiving the request from the native media player application,identifying by the loopback web server a file path of the media content,wherein said identifying comprises querying a mapping of associationsbetween server paths and file paths of a plurality of different mediacontent; retrieving the media content located at the associated filepath; and instructing the loopback web server to generate theunencrypted version of the media content from the media content locatedat the identified file path for transmission to the native media playerapplication.
 15. A system comprising: a processor; and memory storingcomputer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the system toperform: determining, by the processor, that a wrapped applicationrequests to play encrypted media content using a native media playerapplication, wherein the wrapped application is subject to control by anenterprise management system that restricts data transmission to andfrom the wrapped application based on a set of one or more policy filesstored on the mobile device independent of the wrapped application;transmitting, by the processor and to the native media playerapplication, a server path to a loopback web server within the wrappedapplication to elicit a request from the native media player applicationto the loopback web server for the media content; receiving, by theprocessor and from the native media player application, a request toretrieve the media content from the loopback web server; and responsiveto determining that the request to retrieve the media content comprisesthe server path, sending the request to the loopback web serverrequesting the loopback web server to transmit an unencrypted version ofthe media content to the native media player.
 16. The system of claim15, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the systemto perform: generating, by the processor, the loopback web server withinthe wrapped application; and generating, by the processor, the serverpath associated with the media content, wherein the loopback web serveris instructed to retrieve the media content from a file path at whichthe media content is located within the wrapped application based on theserver path.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer readableinstructions further cause the system to perform: identifying, by theprocessor, a file path at which the media content is located within thewrapped application; and responsive to determining that the wrappedapplication requests to play the media content using the native mediaplayer application, generating the server path for transmission to thenative media player application, wherein the server path is uniquelyassociated with the file path at which the media content is locatedwithin the wrapped application.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein theserver path is identified using a security token, and wherein thecomputer readable instructions further cause the system to perform:determining, by the processor, whether the request from the media playerapplication to retrieve the media content comprises the security token;and instructing, based on the security token, the loopback web server todecrypt the media content associated with the server path fortransmission to the media player application.
 19. The system of claim15, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the systemto perform restricting access to the loopback web server and the serverpath to applications and processes executing on the mobile device. 20.The system of claim 15, wherein the computer readable instructionsfurther cause the system to perform: responsive to receiving the requestfrom the native media player application, identifying by the loopbackweb server a file path of the media content, wherein said identifyingcomprises querying a mapping of associations between server paths andfile paths of a plurality of different media content; retrieving themedia content located at the associated file path; and instructing theloopback web server to generate the unencrypted version of the mediacontent from the media content located at the identified file path fortransmission to the native media player application.